International Mental Health and Developmental Disabilit*

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are requesting 5-year support to enhance research training in Turkey, an ICOHRTA eligible country, with respect to mentored-clinical, epidemiological and prevention science research. International Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MH/DD) Research Training Program builds upon our NIMH-funded parent MH/DD research training grant, resources of HRSA-funded developmental disabilities program and the Clinical Research Center at Children?s Hospital, Boston, with additional supports from the Harvard Children?s Initiative, NIMH-funded Harvard psychiatric epidemiology program and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). A major goal is enhancement of future medical and public health research personnel in MH/DD in Turkey, a country with a youthful population (41 percent of 62m in 1995 was 18 years or under). WHO estimates that approx. 12 percent of the population in developing countries is disabled, with mental disabilities constituting more than half in the 4-18 year age group. The program will include 3-levels of international fellows with emphasis on intermediate and long-term training. Intermediate level "inception" fellows will participate in contents/methods courses and workshops at Children?s and HSPH (4 mos., Sept-Dec; n=3, yr 1 and n=2, yrs 2-5) followed by part-time research practicum experiences and short-courses in the MFC country (6 mos., Jan-June). During this formative period fellows will prepare proposals to be competitively funded as part of longer-term "re-entry" fellowships (10.5 mos., Sept-July; n=2 fellows, yrs 2-5). Shorter-term "summer" fellows will participate in the HSPH summer-session (1.5 mos., July-Aug; n=3, yrs 1-5) involving advanced courses for re-entry trainees or introductory courses for nationally or regionally selected fellows for greater programmatic impact Ongoing workshops and impact conferences will be planned in the MFC country by leading faculty. The strengths of this program include the excellent interdisciplinary faculty, breadth of research experiences, pre-existing collaborations, record of dedicated mentoring and teaching, and key international networks in Ankara, the national capital. The research-capacity building efforts will be linked to rigorous evaluation and research ethics education programs. This project is expected to serve as a resource for both in-country and global co-operation in a crossroads democracy in this emerging region.